Jace woke up in a cold sweat. To this day, after eight years, he still had nightmares. He pressed his palms to his eyes in hopes of ridding the images from his mind, but same as always, he had no such luck. He looked at the clock and saw it was 9:30 already. Sighing unnecessarily loudly, he got out of bed and put on a pair of dark jeans and a gray T-shirt. He ran his hands through his hair on his way down the stairs because, in all honesty, he was just too lazy to grab a comb and get rid of the knots the proper way.
He walked into the kitchen to see Alec sitting at the island with a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. He was wearing his normal attire; loose jeans and a baggy, hole-filled sweater. Jace fixed himself some cereal before sitting next to Alec. "Where's Iz?" Jace asked.
"She ran in here about thirty minutes ago like a madwoman, grabbed some coffee, and left muttering something about clothes and stuff. She's probably getting ready to head over to the neighbors' house. Why it takes her so long, I don't know, and I don't think I ever will," replied Alec. Jace snorted. Then a thought he had brought a chuckle out of him. Alec looked at him quizzically.
"Oh no. Clary's the new girl so-" Jace started.
"-so she's gonna become Iz's new barbie doll. Oh geez. Poor girl," Alec finished.
"Ya," Jace said, looking over at Alec. "Hey. Speak of the Devil and he, or should I say she, shall appear," Jace muttered as Isabelle's heels could be heard clicking on the hardwood floors. Alec chuckled. She waltzed into the kitchen looking fresh out of a magazine wearing skin-tight jeans paired with a skin-tight red tank top and at least six-inches worth of white heels. She leaned against the marble countertop of the island and grabbed a blueberry muffin from the basket sitting in the center.
"I'm excited to see what Jon and Clary's house looks like inside," Izzy said.
"Ya, I'm also sure you're excited to see the inside of Clary's closet so you can decide what unnecessary things you need to buy her at the mall," Jace said. Izzy scoffed.
"They're not unnecessary Jace. Just because your taste in clothes is bland doesn't mean hers is, and if it is, I'm simply... offering my help," Izzy responded.
"Iz, from the bottom of my heart," Jace said, putting a hand over his heart and a mock empathetic expression on his face," and remember, I truly mean this, I think you should be the one getting the help, not giving it." Alec laughed while Izzy glared at Jace.
"Plus Iz," Alec said, "it's not offering your help, but forcing."
Izzy walked over to stand behind them and smacked them simultaneously upside the head, which just made them laugh harder. Jace got up and put his bowl in the sink before turning around to look at his other siblings. "Ready to go?" he asked. They both nodded.
After a short walk down the sidewalk, they had arrived on their neighbors' doorstep. They rang the doorbell, and after a couple of moments, Jon opened the door. He was wearing gray basketball shorts and a navy T-shirt and holding a half-eaten bagel in his hand. He smiled and said, "Hey guys! Welcome to our humble abode." He opened the door wider and let them in. "Come on. I think Clary's upstairs doing homework." With that he turned around and jogged up the stairs with the Lightwood siblings in tow behind him. At the top of the stairs he turned right and knocked on a door, presumably the one that led Clary's bedroom. When there was no answer he furrowed his brows and knocked again. After a few seconds they heard music coming from further down the hall. Jon walked over to another door and opened it. There stood Clary, who had her back to them. She was swaying to the song, which Jace recognized as Shotgun by George Ezra, and had a paintbrush in hand. She was wearing black leggings and had an overly large light brown shirt tied up tighter in a knot on her lower back. Jace was desperately trying not to look at her butt considering her brother was standing right next to him. If he wasn't, though, that would be a different story.
Jon knocked on the now open door, but Clary seemed to be too immersed in her painting and the music to hear them. When she didn't turn around, he yelled, "CLARY!" She jumped and turned around with a hand over her probably pounding heart.
"Geez, Jonathan! You scared the crap out of me!" she gasped. Jonathan pointed to her torso.
"Is that my shirt?" he asked incredulously. Clary glanced down at the shirt she was wearing. It had 'R.N.B.M', an abbreviation for 'Rag N' Bone Man', in a box on it. She looked up sheepishly.
"Oops. I forgot I borrowed this," she replied, smiling a little.
"Borrowed? More like stole," he replied, annoyance lacing his tone. Clary stepped forwards, her expression resembling determination. Her eyes had zeroed in on the bagel in his hand. A devious smile formed on her lips, and before any of them could comprehend what was happening, Clary launched forwards, grabbed the bagel out of Jon's hand, and took a huge bite. Jon, as if in a daze, slowly looked at his hand that was still suspended in the air, his hand still in the form it was when the bagel was there. He looked back at Clary, narrowing his eyes. He quickly snatched the bagel back. He shook it at her, crumbs flying everywhere, and yelled, "Stop stealing my stuff!" Although he sounded mad, his eyes showed amusement. He turned around and went back down the stairs.
Clary looked at them, chuckling lightly. "That will never get old." She turned and started down the stairs, not looking back to see if the Lightwoods were following her. They looked at each other. Izzy shrugged and followed Clary, with her two brothers in tow. They ended up going down another flight of stairs to the basement. The three Lightwoods looked around in amazement. It was a gamer and a television enthusiast's dream.
"This is so cool, " exclaimed Izzy. "Maia and Simon would love this place." At that, Clary sucked in a breath. She looked really pale all of a sudden. "What's wrong Clary?" asked Izzy. Clary just shook her head and smiled tightly, although to Jace it looked more like a grimace. He knew that face, the face of someone in pain. He started walking towards her and was about to ask her if she needed to talk to someone when a voice interrupted him.
"Hey you guys wanna play?" Jon asked, holding up multiple game controllers. The rest of the group nodded and headed over to the massive leather couch and bean bag chairs. Jace shook his head, clearing any yearnings of asking Clary anything. It was a ridiculous thought to have in the first place. He plopped down on the couch. "You want one Jace?" Jon asked, gesturing to a game controller.
"Ya, thanks."